Wednesday, February 13, 2019

Four Stories On Liquor Make Front Page of Rockingham Post-Dispatch, Feb. 13, 1919

From the Rockingham Post-Dispatch, Thursday, Feb. 13, 1919. By the way, three score and ten means 70, one score being 20 years.

Liquor, Flu and Governor

Some weeks ago a citizen of northern Richmond county, C.J. McKay wrote to Governor Bickett requesting five gallons of whiskey be sent to him to help in combatting the flu. To the request the 
Governor replied as follows:

Raleigh, Jan. 6th
Dear Sir:

Your letter of recent date, requesting that the Governor send you ten gallons of good whiskey for use in nursing patients suffering with influenza, has been received. I reply I beg to advise that it is impossible for the Governor to fill your order, as he has not a drop. If we had that much liquor this office would feel impelled to turn it over to the State Treasurer to be used as a basis for the bond issue to raise funds with which to meet the government half-way in its appropriation to build good roads in North Carolina. You say, yourself, that a poor man can’t get it. This being true, then it would be impossible, of course, for the Governor to keep himself supplied on the salary he now received.

Yours very truly,
Sanford Martin,
Private Secretary

And now Mr. McKay has again written the Governor on the subject of whiskey-for-flu, as follows:

Pekin, Feb. 7th
Dear Guvner:

I received your reply to my letter. Am sorry you did not send me the five gallons of whiskey to be used in fighting the flu and sorry to know that the salary paid to such a valuable office is to insignificant to afford the amount requested and if said amount was available and sold and the money appropriated as suggested by you I venture to say that it would not build thirty steps of good roads in Montgomery county. Now dear Gouvenor while I am indeed sorry that you are not able to supply me I must confess that I of late had been extremely lucky and if you should happen to suffer an attack of the flu do me the honor to write me and I will send you five gallons of the best whiskey made around here which in fact is sufficint in its quality to make the ears of a Jack mule stand straight but please ask your secretary not to claim the flu for either you or himself until he really has it for camaflageing will not be accepted in this proposition but my dear Gouvenor if the flu serves all alike I trust that you will have no occasion to ask for this free will offering and now Gouvenor I am going to ask you not to say much about my proposition for some one might ask from whence Johnnie came. I will close by saying that I hope that within the next year the salary of your office may be increased to double its present proportion. I am your ardent supporter
C.J. McKay

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From the Rockingham Post-Dispatch, Thursday, Feb. 13, 1919

Still Captured

Sheriff McDonald, with deputy collectors Shores and Kenley, brought in a still on Thursday afternoon of last week from Steele’s township, a short distance north of the steel bridge on Little river. The outfit was nearly ready for operation, with several hundred gallons of bear ready. The worm was not found.

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From the Rockingham Post-Dispatch, Thursday, Feb. 13, 1919

Spruill Not Guilty

The sheriff and deputy found at Oscar Spruill’s pig pen, colored, three miles northwest of town, a barrel that had held still slops, and 200 years from the house were signs where a still had been in operation. On this evidence he was arrested and Wednesday was given a hearing before Squire Guthrie; however, Spruill introduced witnesses to show that his children had rolled the barrel from a swamp “unbeknownst” to him. He was released for lack of evidence.

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From the Rockingham Post-Dispatch, Thursday, Feb. 13, 1919

Slick Liquor Trick

A colored man named Bob Hamilton, aged over three score and ten, from lower Wolf Pit, was in town Sat’day, and is minus a ‘ten spot.’ According to his version, he gave another colored man, Reid Adams, and a man giving his name as “Sam Crawford” $10 in Rockingham to get him a quart of whiskey. The two went off presumably to get the fiery stuff, but did not return. Hamilton went alooking for his messengers and finally found Adams. Adams put up a tale that he too had been buncoed: that he had given the other fellow $2 to get him some and that he had disappeared with both his money and that of Hamilton. But the old man evidently didn’t believe this story, for he insisted on Adams accompanying him to the Mayor’s office where he secured a warrant for the arrest of the two, charging them with fraud. 

Adams was locked up about dusk Saturday night in the new cell of the Municipal building, while the officers hunted for the other negro. When they returned after a fruitless search an hour or so later, the cell was empty and Adams gone. He prided the cell door open.

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